5.24.2011

I've seriously started and erased this post about a billion times. I've wanted to share so much and so many pictures, but every time there's a moment to start, there's no time to finish. When there's time again what I've written is irrelevant and I need to start over...

Who would have known that this would be so difficult!?

We came home on Friday when Jenny Kate was a mere 26 hours old. We were shocked but super excited to get home and be with our little man. Unfortunately, Derrick was exhausted and so were we. Justin walked into the living room to find all three of us in tears. It was a pretty pathetic moment, I must say.

This nursing thing is making me lose my mind. I'm trying but seriously, I'm not so sure I'm cut out for it. We had a lactation consultant come out today and she was super helpful. And then she left. And then I started wondering again if I'm cut out for nursing. Tomorrow may be the deciding day.

Derrick has been amazing. He LOVES Jenny Kate. He wants to hold her all of the time and if he's not holding her he wants to touch her. Sometimes he says he's "petting" her. I'm so glad he likes her so much (for now at least!). That was one of my biggest concerns. I want him to love her and not worry that she's taking over his space, attention, and love. We're trying hard to have special time just for him and he seems ok with everything. The boy's a trooper. I sure do love him!

That's kind of where we are right now. Loving these babies, trying to keep them both happy, and trying to get into some sort of routine before Justin has to go back to work in a few days. Oh, I'm so not ready for that!

5.18.2011

One of the things that made us really excited when we were buying our house was the flat backyard. (If you ever saw our old house's backyard, you'd completely understand why!) There's lots of room for D to play outside and there's still room for a REAL garden! Last year was our first attempt at gardening and it was a learning experience to say the least. We had a 10x10 raised bed that was packed with enough plants to nicely fit into a garden about three times that size! We didn't have a clue.

We still don't really have a clue, but we did learn not to plant a bunch of running plants so close together. I'll have to post pictures of last year's chaos sometime. It was quite ridiculous!

So anyway, we got our seeds started a couple of weeks ago and I need to document the progress and interest our little helper. I'm going to need these pictures to prove to D that he was in fact excited about gardening when someday he decides gardens are lame and too much work. Because he will, I'm sure of it!

He was so excited about planting the seeds! This is a water-loving boy, oh my! (And in case you didn't know this, he's wearing his "water shirt" here.)

D was very serious about his job. He didn't want me to help at all.

He may have gotten slightly over-ambitious with the watering, so we did have to remedy that. And take away the watering can!

He was happy to give up the watering and plant a few seeds.

He kept saying "This one goes in here, and this one goes in here." My sweet little helper!

The problem was convincing him that the beans he was planting weren't actually ready to eat yet!

Justin got our garden all tilled up and we've gotten all of the veggies planted. We can't wait to see the treasures that are in store to munch on all summer!

5.16.2011

I'm not such a good waiter, especially with no real date to wait on. This girl is teasing me and I can barely take it! I've had a few contractions and I was quite certain I was going into labor Saturday night. I had myself convinced I was, anyway. Nope.

Then I was terrified to go to church Sunday morning because I was sure that my water would break right there in church. Or Sunday School. How beyond embarrassing would that be?! We stayed home instead.

It's Monday. Still nothing.

Yes, I'm still one week (today) away from my due date, but this is a whole new experience for me. With Derrick I had an induction date. I knew for sure when he was coming and there were no signs of him coming early at all. He wasn't ready when they made him come! Jenny Kate...I can tell already, she just can't make up her mind. Kinda ready, kinda not. But she wants us to be ready and waiting on her...sounds like she's all girl to me!

While we've been waiting we've been trying to get some things crossed off the list...

Our bags are packed.

Jenny Kate's car seat is ready and on the way to the car right now.

My friend Ms. Pat re-covered D's car seat for Jenny Kate. I am so in love with it! She did a FANTASTIC job!! :)

The house is clean. Enough.

The garden will be finished today.

The refrigerator has been cleaned out and the strawberries I bought at the local farmer's stand have been sliced and frozen. We had to cheat this year and let them pick our strawberries...it just wasn't in the cards this time. But OH MY they are the BEST strawberries in the world! Huge, HUGE difference from grocery store strawberries!! This is the second round I've bought. The first time I ate so many that I thought I may be developing an allergy. It was that bad. But so was the pollen and I think that was the issue. Whew!

All of the laundry is done. Well, until everyone wakes up and changes clothes that is.

Derrick's DD and "water shirt" are clean and, "They're feeling better now," he says. If all it takes for him to feel comfortable while we're gone is a clean blanket and "water shirt" then this adjustment is going to be a piece of cake. Yep.

5.13.2011

*I had this written once, but blogger has been down. Sorry for those who have been waiting to hear how D's appointment went!

We went to see D's cardiologist Wednesday. I don't know why, but these appointments never get any easier for me. You'd think after two years of doing this that I wouldn't dread the drive to that office so much, but there are always so many uncertainties that can be hidden in that tiny little heart. I know it's just me being overly paranoid, but sometimes I just can't help it. I'm a mom, what can I say?

So anyway, Tuesday night I tried to talk to Derrick about what they were going to do at Dr. S's office so he wouldn't freak out. (Those monthly synagis shots really ruined doctor visits for us!) He woke up Wednesday morning talking about going to see Dr. S and that he would listen to his heart and that Ms. Helen would check his numbers (his O2 sats). I love it when he wakes up talking about the last things we talked about before bed. It's so funny, like he's been thinking about them all night. Ha.

First up we got some BIG NEWS!

Y'all, we have been waiting to see this number for one entire year! (He did have on a wet diaper, so it may not be totally accurate, but who's counting, right? :)

D wasn't quite as thrilled. We still can't convince him of the importance of calories!

He didn't have an echo (like I told him he would) but he did have an EKG (that I didn't tell him about). D didn't mind the EKG because he likes stickers. And he knew he was getting a sucker so he really didn't care what happened. He really is such a big boy sometimes!

Dr. S said that everything looked and sounded good and that he wants to see him again in three months! He'll have an echo at that visit and we'll go from there. Hopefully surgery is still in the very distant future. And until we hear otherwise, we're gonna live it up!

We stopped by the mall on the way home so Derrick could make a gift to take to Jenny Kate in the hospital. We picked out two different animals at Build-A-Bear for D to choose from: one I wanted him to make (a cute bunny), and the one we figured he'd pick. Of course he picked the one I didn't...a tye-dye bear! Don't get me wrong, I love tye-dye, but this boy LOVES tye-dyed things! (He has a tye-dye shirt that he wants to wear every. single. day. but that's a whole post in itself!)

D made the decisions for her clothing and hair accessories. I think he did a pretty good job, don't you? She's adorable, colorful, and perfect for our girl...made with love from her big brother! And if you press her hand you can hear Jenny Kate's 20 week heart beat. I love it!

D picked up some new shades for himself and we were ready to call it a day! This boy was worn out! I'm hoping Jenny Kate is a better shopper than these boys are! Ha!

Thanks so much for your prayers for Derrick. I know I always say this, but they mean more to us that we could ever express!

And a little side note about Jenny Kate....

I never posted this, but as of two weeks ago (and according to an ultrasound) she weighed 7 lbs 9 oz. I know they're not super accurate with the weight predictions but the tech said they're usually within a pound and usually on the high side. As of yesterday I'm 2 cm dilated and "moving right along." We're hoping this girl comes on her own and in my opinion, the sooner the better! I'm looking forward to getting three solid hours of sleep at night because right now, that's NOT happening! ;) T-10 days and counting!

5.10.2011

While I was planning Derrick's birthday party I came across an adorable new "must have" in the cupcake world. {In my opinion, anyway!}

Push Pop Cupcakes!

Once I saw them I had to have them, so I scoured the internet until I could call some of those adorable little plastic containers my own (from here). I counted down the days until they arrived (as Justin rolled his eyes at my desperate need for these push pop containers :).

After the party we had some left-overs, and this guy had been itching to try them.

They were just as good as he imagined they would be.

He couldn't get enough of the ooey-gooey green icing

and quickly figured out that all he needed to do was push the stick up to get more.

Yes!

We enjoyed a good fifteen minutes or so of calm,

quiet,

sugary,

push pop cupcake time,

or should I say

icing time,

before all of the super

sugary

goodness

was all gone,

and it was on to the next adventure.

I can barely keep up with this wild man!

Wednesday Derrick has his three month cardiology appointment. I know in my heart everything is fine, but sometimes my mind gets the best of me. We're praying that everything looks just as good as it always has and that we'll get another "see ya in three months" from the doctor. It will be nice to get this behind us so we can enjoy BOTH of our little ones for a while before Dr. Shuler is looming again. We sure would appreciate your prayers for a good, thorough report AND cooperation. Because seriously, cooperation has been kind of slim around here!